New South Wales Elections

14 October - Three resignations have created a by-election test for the Berejiklian government. Labor should retain Blacktown, but the National Party faces tougher contests in rural Cootamundra and Murray.

9 September: Voters in 46 New South Wales local council areas go to the polls on Saturday 9 September. The elections cover new councils formed from recent amalgamations, as well as several councils that defeated the merge efforts of the state government.

NSW faces by-elections in the state seats of Canterbury, Orange and Wollongong on 12 November. In Orange the Baird government is defending a National party seat against opponents of the government’s ban on greyhound racing, while in Wollongong Labor faces a challenge from Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery.

New South Wales Liberal Premier Mike Baird leads his government into the 2015 election with an enormous majority in Parliament, well ahead in Preferred Premier ratings, but with a narrowing lead over Labor in polls of voting intention.

25 October 2014: The revelation to an ICAC inquiry of illegal developer donations at the 2011 state election has led to the resignation of the Liberal members for Charlestown and Newcastle. With both seats having been safe Labor seats until the 2011 election landslide, Labor is favourite to gain both seats ahead of the state election in March.

25 May: Having been dropped as National Party candidate for the Federal seat of New England, Richard Torbay has now resigned his seat in the NSW parliament, creating a by-election for his rural seat of Northern Tablelands.

27 October: The state electorate of Sydney will face a by-election following the resignation of long-serving Independent MP Clover Moore. Her re-election as Lord Mayor of Sydney triggers a new provision of the Local Government Act that forces MPs to resign from Parliament if they want to take their seat on a local council. It creates an unusual by-election in a seat where support for political parties has been obscured during Moore's 24-year reign as MP.

19 June: The resignation of Labor MP Karyn Paluzzano has forced a by-election on the Keneally government in the electorate of Penrith. The by-election will be a key test of whether the Coalition can win the 2011 election.

24 March: After succeeding Bob Carr in 2005, Morris Iemma wins his first election as Premier, Labor re-elected for a fourth term. Despite public resentment at problems in basic public services, a lacklustre Liberal campaign helps Labor return to office.